Jean Fay was born October 22, 1928 at
Lidgerwood
,
ND
, the daughter of Albert and Agnes (Ebel) Funfar. She moved to Wahpeton as a young girl where she attended school in Wahpeton and graduated in 1946 from
Wahpeton
High School
. She attended NDSCS and worked at the Richland County Courthouse. She was united in marriage to Robert Vagts on June 26, 1948 at
Immanuel
Lutheran
Church
, Wahpeton. The couple moved to the Vagts farm east of Breckenridge in 1951. Jean helped on the farm as well as coordinating all the outfits for her family as they performed music in the region as “Crystal Sunshine”. They also operated “Vagts Barn” which was a musical and dance hall on their farm for many years. Robert passed away January 30, 2004, and Jean lived on the farm until September of 2008 when she moved to the Leech Home in Wahpeton and entered St. Francis Nursing Home in November of 2009. The family wishes to give a special thanks to Trista for her loving care and time looking after Jean the last four years.
Jean was a member of
Immanuel
Lutheran
Church
. She enjoyed following her families sporting events and
spending New Years Eve with her family at the Holiday Inn as the grandchildren grew up She was a wonderful historian for her family, making many scrapbooks and diaries of her family’s events, a skill she learned from her mother. She and Robert loved to travel, making many winter trips to
Florida
to visit family and with her family playing music around the region.
Jean is survived by her four sons: Jeffrey Lynn Vagts and Cheryl Lodel, Detroit Lakes, MN; Jay Robert
(Laurie) Vagts, Breckenridge; Jan August Vagts and Trista Mikkelson, Breckenridge, Joel Albert (Stephanie) Vagts, Tioga, MN; and grandchildren; Natalie (Billy) Beyer, daughter Lauren Christine, and one due in July, Moorhead, MN;
Melanie Vagts, Moorhead, MN; Aaron Vagts, Breckenridge; Jason Vagts, Breckenridge; Sarah Vagts and Travis Boesen and their child Aubrey Kay, Breckenridge; Julia Vagts, Perham, MN; Jennifer (Luke) Johnson, and twin children, Isabella Rose and Savanna Blu; Kennedy Vagts and Jackson Vagts, Tioga, ND; Connor and Zackary Willprecht, Breckenridge; her sister, Beverly (Paul) Ferrell, Wahpeton; her sisters-in-law, Betty Ingebrigtson, Waubun, MN; Lois Goerndt, Land O Lakes, FL; and a brother-in-law, Kenneth (Diane) Vagts, Falls Church, VA.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Robert, an infant son, Gregory Lee, brothers-in-law, Theodore Vagts, and Jerry Ingebrigtson.
